This was the moment his life changed. Oh, he'd been heading here for a while. With his wolf paying attention to her, the kiss in the woods, the easy laughter, the budding affection, sex, and wanting to bite her … the I love yous. Somewhere along the way, he'd begun to change his mind on what was important. No … Emma had changed his mind. She'd changed him from the inside out, and now he wanted to be a better man for her. One she could rely on. One who wouldn't hurt her.
This right here was the moment that he decided he couldn't betray the Blackwings.
For Emma, he was going to betray his pack instead.
Chapter Eleven
Tugging her hoodie over her head, Emma stepped outside and froze at what she saw. The D-Team was all loading up the back of Logan's truck. Dustin's gaze immediately collided with hers as he shoved a giant blue cooler in the back. He gave her a charming wink that made her stomach flutter.
She offered him a smile and wave, then grabbed Winter's arm as she passed. "What's happening?"
Winter grinned big, her smoky gray eyes sparking with excitement. "Tonight is the first trailer park party. Dustin planned it."
"False," Dustin called loud enough for her to hear. "I planned a trailer park party for me and Emma so I could maybe get my dick stroked, but then these assholes begged to tag along. Cock blockers, every one of them."
It was chilly out, so Emma shoved her hands into her pockets and jogged over to him. He turned and caught her up in a back cracking hug like they hadn't just parted ways forty-five minutes ago. He eased his lips near her ear. "Plus I know you like hanging out with these losers, so maybe I invited them a little. Remember the bat signal."
Emma giggled and kissed him hard, bit his bottom lip at the end, hugged his neck as tight as she could and slid back down to the ground. "You're my favorite werewolf."
"Not a compliment. I'm the only werewolf you don't hate."
"Still counts." Emma shrugged coyly and scrambled into the back seat of Logan's truck.
Dustin slid in beside her, scooting her with his hip.
"Whoa, Dustin's not bitching about shotgun?" Logan asked, his dark brows knitted into a frown as he climbed into his truck. "Are you sick? I mean besides in the head."
"I feel fine, fuck you very much." Dustin lifted his arm over Emma's head and pulled her close. "Sex puts me in a good mood, like a normal person."
"Dustin," Emma reprimanded him.
"What? You don't screw and tell, and that's classy of you. I'm not classy."
Ever the optimist of the crew, Winter said helpfully, "At least he isn't ashamed and hiding it. That would suck if he had intimacy with you and then pretended he didn't."
"See?" Dustin said, giving Winter a high five. "Really, I'm being a gentleman."
"Werewolves aren't gentlemen," Logan muttered. "No more high fives." His voice was way too snarly.
Beast yanked the passenger door open. "Finally." When he climbed up on the seat, he rocked the entire truck with his massive size.
Winter held onto the oh-shit-bar dramatically, and Emma thrashed around like she was caught in an earthquake. Logan and Dustin looked amused. Beast, however, did not. He poked the radio dial until blaring opera music blasted through the speakers, flipped them all off, then pulled his baseball cap over his face like he was going to sleep.
Emma loved him. She loved all of them. Beast with his mood-swings but protective nature, Logan with his quiet observations, dark past, and sweet demeanor with Winter. She loved that Winter was so bright and positive about everything. She could spin any bad day into a good one, and she was becoming a really good friend. And Dustin … well, she liked him best for a million reasons.
He was watching her with a wicked smile. You want my dick, he mouthed.
Stop it, she mouthed back.
I like your boobs.
Emma slowed her words and formed them carefully so he could catch them all. Well, I like your hair and your tattoos.
I like your eyes. The smile was dipping from his face, and he was getting more serious as Logan eased the truck onto the main road. And your lips. I like those a lot. And this game because I get to watch those lips.
I like that you didn't snore last night when you stayed over.
I liked that you snored like a freight train.
I did not!
How would you know? He tapped his ear and arched his eyebrow.
Oh, my gosh, do I really? That was news to her.
No.
He laughed when she shoved his arm.
Mean, she accused.
When Dustin pulled her hand to his lips in a flash, his smile disappeared completely. But I'm trying to be better.
"What are y'all doing?" Logan asked suspiciously.
Jerking his chin in Logan's direction, Dustin mouthed, Psycho-baby.
Emma giggled and shook her head. She wasn't going to get into a name war with the king of name-calling.
Winter stared at them with narrowed eyes. "I think you two are grosser than me and Logan."
"That's bullcrap," Dustin said. "My room is close to yours, Winter Donovan. You and Logan are loud. And super-gross. And you always have to be touching, and you always look at each other with those dumb googly eyes-"
"I'm never pairing up," Beast muttered from under his baseball cap. "You're all disgusting."
Emma frowned. Dustin said he'd been the head of a pride for a long time. He would have been paired up with lots of lionesses … right?
But when she looked up at Dustin to ask him, he looked just as confused as her and shrugged.
When Logan pulled onto the dirt road that led to the fledgling trailer park, Emma unbuckled and eased forward between the seats. She thought Beast would growl at her, but he gave her a grimace that was almost a smile instead. And when Emma rested her cheek on his muscular shoulder and made a happy sound, Beast didn't even shove her head away this time.
There was a brand new wooden sign over the entrance. Blackwing Mobile Park had been carved into it neatly, and in smaller letters just underneath, it read Home of the D-Team.
Emma laughed. It was perfect.
"Kane got the Novak Raven to make it," Logan said. "He's good at woodwork."
"Logan said wood," Dustin muttered as he pulled his cell from his back pocket.
"Is it just me, or is Kane starting to relax around us?" Winter asked.
"Well," Logan murmured, "he did sit on a dirty bathroom floor just to hang out with us, so I'd say yes. Except for Dustin. He still hates Dustin."
"Thanks, man," Dustin muttered, typing something into his phone.
"What are you doing?" Emma asked him.
"Inviting Kane and Rowan to the party for brownie points."
"Damn, you really do want to pledge to this crew," Logan said, pulling to a stop in front of his and Winter's doublewide. It was still getting electrical and plumbing hooked up, so they hadn't moved it yet, but soon. A wave of envy washed through Emma.
She didn't know if she and Dustin could pledge yet, and she was sick of living in the motel room. For a moment, she imagined her and Dustin coming up on their moving day. It wasn't fair to Winter, though, for her to be jealous, and Emma was really happy for her and Logan. They'd found a place, found home, and this, in this clearing, would be it for them. This would be safety and security. This would be their constant.
Suddenly, Beast snarled. As he swung toward her, Emma squeaked and threw herself against the backseat. He reached for Dustin. "What did you do to her?"
"What are you talking about?" Dustin said, ducking his swiping paw.
"Why the fuck does she smell sad?" he bellowed.
"Why aren't you buckled?" Winter yelled equally loudly.
"Everyone get out of my truck!" Logan also yelled.
Emma held onto Beast's arm, chanting, "He didn't do anything! He didn't do anything!" But now Beast was hanging halfway in the backseat with his hand around Dustin's throat. Dustin kicked him in the face, and though Beast's nose bled like a bloody fountain, he wouldn't loosen his grip. And now his eyes were bright gold. Fuck!
Panicked, Emma reached into her purse and pulled out her pepper spray, popped the top, and squirted a healthy dollop into Beast's face. The spray filled the cab of the truck like a fog, and the burn in Emma's eyes was instant. They all started screaming and yelling at once, scrabbling for doors, falling out of the truck, crawling on the ground.
"Fuck, Emma!" Logan yelled. "Why didn't you just knee him?"
"Don't yell at her!" Dustin said from where he was rolling on the ground rubbing his eyes.
Choking on the spray, Emma bolted for the blue cooler in the back, fumbled desperately to get it open, and pulled out bottled waters. She dumped one on her face and scrubbed her eyes as fast as she could. Her eyes were watering so bad she could barely see. She wanted to dump another one on her face immediately, but her guilt was real and deep, so she lobbed a bottle at each of the D-Team.